Sweet Nothings
by obliviatethesilence
Summary: Ginny finds Harry and they offer each other some comfort after the battle at Hogwarts.


_A/N: This is one of my ultimate OTP's and I don't think I'll ever be able to do them justice. As far as I can tell, Jo is the only one truly able of capturing their perfection in literary glory, but I can try, right?_

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><p>"Are we doing playing games?" came a voice from behind him, causing him to jump. It had been quiet enough that he could hear only his heartbeat, and her voice came as a shock even if the sound also calmed him.<p>

"Ginny," he smiled without turning to face her.

She sat down beside him and stared out of the window that he was facing, losing herself in the same silence he had been lost in just moments before. "It's really over, isn't it? We've won."

The way she said it made it sound hollow, but then again, he supposed it sort of was. Winning came at a hefty price, which for him included his godfather, his mentor, his teachers, and his friends, but for her, it was her brother. It was her flesh and blood. He had lost his parents, but it was so long ago that the wound had never really felt raw and open like it surely felt for her.

"Yes, we've won," he said, placing his hand over hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "It's over, Ginny."

Harry could recall having seen Ginny cry on a few occasions, but never like she finally let out at that moment. It was as though a lifetime worth of fear and pain and memories came pouring out of her eyes all at once. There was nothing he could do except allow her to lean into him, wrapping his arms around her solidly, offering her the comfort he knew she needed.

"Ginny, you know that I haven't been playing any games, right?" She sniffled, which he took as a yes. "I didn't want to let you go last year. But I didn't want Voldemort to use you again, and I knew he'd try. You were too involved as it was, and having you involved with me directly would have made you a target. And I know you don't care," he said quickly as she leaned back to retaliate, "But it doesn't change the fact that I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd been the reason you died. I couldn't have faced your family, and I couldn't have faced myself in the mirror. You are too important to me for that." He'd explained all of this before, but he knew it would mean more if he explained it again.

Ginny's eyes were still flooded with tears, but she managed a weak smile to show that she understood and appreciated what he'd been trying to do. "I've missed you," she sighed, leaning into him again. "This year has been a mess. First Snape, then the Carrows, and all of the new rules, and you not being here, and then Easter—"

She trailed off. This year at Hogwarts was something Harry would probably never understand in full, but he had a lifetime to hear the stories, and a lifetime to hear them from Ginny.

"Why'd you come up here, Harry?" she asked quietly, after they'd spent several more minutes of silently staring out the window. "Everyone is downstairs trying to find a mix between celebrating and mourning, and they're almost all looking for you." She looked as though she'd had an epiphany. "And that's why you're up here, isn't it? Avoiding it all."

"I'd rather not watch people cry over bodies that I helped to kill. I don't want to celebrate when there are so many families that were torn apart today."

"You didn't kill anyone," said Ginny firmly, looking him in the eyes. "Don't you think that for a second, Harry Potter. You gave everyone hope. You gave everyone a second chance. If there are some people who won't be around to see that second chance, well, I'm sure they'd be happy to know that they died for it. I know Fred would have been…" She said his name without stumbling over it, but a brand new chorus of silent tears streamed down her face, cutting through a thick layer of dirt and grime.

"How did you know I was up here?" Harry asked, without really needing an answer. Ginny knew him inside and out, perhaps even better than he knew himself. Just like she knew at that moment that he didn't really want her to answer the question at all. She just smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"I love you, Ginny," Harry said with a firm resolution. "No matter what happens from here on out, I just want you to know that."

"I've always known that," Ginny said, smirking as she leaned in to kiss him. "I've known it since that day I met you at King's Cross almost eight years ago," she teased.

He kissed her back, relishing in her scent and her touch, two things he had greatly missed while he'd been Horcrux hunting. "You were right," he said positively. "You're just smarter than I am because you figured it out first."

Smiling through their kiss, for a moment both Harry and Ginny forgot that they were sitting in a half-destroyed castle surrounded by debris and corpses; for a moment they forgot that their loved ones were dead and their lives were going to be a downward spiral for a few weeks until they finally would start feeling bright again; for a moment they were just Harry and Ginny. And that moment was perfect.


End file.
